Adirondack Trip 2005 - Day 2 - Morning

After little sleep, I awoke to a splashing sound from the direction of the lake. The sound was similar to when you slap the palm of your hand to a body of water. I came to life pretty quickly as I knew I had a long day of riding ahead of me with limited time; I wanted to get home by evening. I wiped my eyes, bent my arms inward at the elbow, bowed my back convexly, and gave a nice, long sttrreetttttcchhhh. I reached for the watch - 6:15am. "Ok, let's do it!", I thought as I heard the slapping sound in the water again. I hopped quickly out of the Marmott Sleeping bag and threw on the blue jeans. As I began unzipping the tent, I remembered the long hand to claw battle I had the previous night with the beef jerkey hungry bears; the battle was finally over. I slowly slipped my head out of the tent first to confrim the rest of me that all is safe, curious to what the sound in the water was. Whatever it was, it was no bear; that was a good sign. I stood upright and walked towards the lake. What an awesome view...

As I was looking out over God's great creation, I heard the sound again and looked over to find a welcome guest.



He was bathing and looking at me as if was telling me good morning. "Good morning Donald", I welcomed. I thought about how he does not have a worry in the world. He's not worried or concerned about where he will be finding food this morning, nor was he concerned where he'd be sleeping tonight, nor was he worried about paying an electric bill - God's taking care of it all for him. It made me think back when Jesus shared the parable of the bird "are you not more valuable to God than a duck?". Donald hung out for about a half an hour and decided to go about his day.

I noticed that the sound of bull frogs yelling had dissappered. I thought "maybe they are sleeping! I think I'll do some yelling and wake them up!!". I poured some water in the JetBoil and began to boil some water for coffee. This would be the first time that I had tried the coffee press of the JetBoil. It worked quite well. The only problem I really had with it was that I wanted to get started on some dehydrated eggs but couldn't due to using the canister to drink the coffee from. I noted that a small collapsable cup would be very handy for this reason. I sat in the folding chair and enjoyed the beautiful scene. Since this was my first attempt to eating dehydrated foods, I opened the eggs slowly, concerned for what I might see. Since many of you may not have ever slaved over a JetBoil or prepare dehydrated eggs, I am forcing you to join me in this adventure within itself.

Boiled some water in a 1.5 minutes and poured it into the bag, as the bags describes.

After 5 minutes....(looks like barf, eh?)


And drain... VIOLA!! BonApetit!




I ate the eggs, most of them anyway. They have small bacon bits in them which was tasty, not bad at all, initially that is. The flavor became overwhelming late and I relied on old faithful; what I eat every day, oatmeal. After breakfast, I fetched the jerkey, lantern, and chair, and packed them on the ACE, patting her on the saddle like she was my trusty equine. I took a few snapshots of the hotel before I tore it down and packed in on the back where it belonged.



It was now nearing 8:00am and knew I had to get moving. I packed things accordingly so that I could grab items for the shower quickly. Repacking the GranTour bag made me enjoy it even more; its so practical. Riding to the showers, I inquisitivly looked around to see if the park gained any more campers - no - not a one. I grabbed some quarters and headed in the showers.

It was one of my favorite showers of all time - perfect - water was hot and I didn't want to turn it off but again, I knew I was running a race with time. Just as I had convinced myself to turn the water dial, it shut off automatically. "Good, let's go". Knowing that I laid the trip out for this being the day for mileage, I got dressed and ready to ride. On this day I tried riding with some biking shorts which did seem to help in the long run. "Let's go!"

Departure Time: 08:37

Adirondack Trip 2005 - Day 1 - Leg 4 - Camp

I left Brian's Inn at 7:01 pm. Marge took me through some back streets and back onto 85. As I 'cruised' through Saranac Lake, I noticed a girl that had a lemonade stand setup in her driveway on the right hand side of the road. Unfortunately, she had no customers. Her lemonade stand tugged on me like an opposing side of a magnet but the time and getting back to camp before dark pulled harder and won the battle. I REALLY enjoy stopping to buy lemonade from the kids that take the extra effort of setting up a stand and establishing a 'business'. I hope these kids drive our future and not the lazy ones. I use to just buy 2 or 3 lemonades and not drink any but they, like most of us, like to see their customers happy so usually do my best to drink at least one. I find it so rewarding to do business with them though. I really struggled for a few more miles not stopping and conducting business with her. For the first time on the trip, the area looked familiar since I had passed through only a few hours prior. With no music on the ride, I could hear the chain buzz a little and figured that I should probably stop and shoot a little lube on it for a few reasons; I had not lubed it real well prior to leaving home, the chain would be warm (which makes the lube adhere better), and I did not want to stop the following day (day 2) to lube it because I would be doing more miles than on this day. I pulled over about 30 miles later and lubed it the best I could without having a jack to freely spin the wheel. Having a chain on the ACE is bitter-sweet. The new Honda Shadow Aero 750 (that replaced the long lived ACE last year) comes with a shaft drive. The shaft is far more maintenance free than the chain but on this motorcycle, I would prefer the chain so that I can change the gearing to turn less RPM's at top speed (which I did years ago). The shaft also steals power and since she's a 750, she's not a 'powerhouse'. On a larger bike, I would appreciate and prefer a shaft drive. Here’s a few snapshots of the sunset after the maintenance stop. The sun was just starting to drop a bit.

I kept my eyes PEELED for deer as I routed to the campsite at a much slower pace for safety. I rode back through Long Lake, I reported our location to the ACE with “we're almost there girl". I thought about all that I have and how much there is to be thankful for, allowing a tear to escape from my eyes. Riding the motorcycle allows me this type of thinking. I've heard others compare it to horseback riding, prayer, meditation, swimming, etc; activities that allow you to relax and think about life and things that are present. At this time in my life I find myself stopping often to thank God for all that I have. I could very easily compare myself to someone else that has a house and beautiful possessions and want ‘what they have’. I have so much, and for that, I am thankful. I thought about my son and how much I miss him. “I hope he’s hanging in there”, as I thought about our 1000 distance between us. He’s in me though we’re so far apart.As I rode on 28 near the campsite, I noticed all of the bug splats on the windshield and thought that I should get them off of it when I landed at the campsite, "Yea, but the little path to the site... do we really want to take her back down it again since it was tough to get her up it earlier? I don't know, we'll see when we get there. Wow, there are NO vehicles on this road!". I noticed that I speak to myself in a similar fashion as Tom Hanks does in the movie "The Castaway". Maybe because I spend so much time by myself, I'm not sure. As I veered onto the main path to the 3 campsites, I realized that I did not notice any deer OR vehicles late in the ride. I decided to slide her down the path to the site in order to clean her up and for ease of packing in the morning, found the kickstand plate, and dismounted. "Wow, no one is in any of these nearby sites at all, how awesome is this?!” I snapped a pic from the campsite before the sun set for the evening.

I was the only human in the area. I fired up the lantern for better visuals and quickly cleaned the windshield while the bugs were fresh. As I sat on the stool and meditated on the sounds of wildlife, it occurred to me that I was not 'camping' unless I made a fire. I needed the pops and cracks to keep me company. "But I did not bring any wood OR lighting utensils other than traditional matches.” My luck with building fires is pretty slim even though I was awarded the campfire belt medal in the Boy Scouts as a boy. It seems that the wood is always too fresh when my fires don’t 'take off'; I have to continually work and feed the flame. I remembered that I had noticed a large tree near the top of the path that had fallen during the winter and the park grounds men were in the process of cutting it up as their were freshly cut pieces and piles of saw dust in small mounds around the main section. The tree was so large that it took up the site next door, 203, and it's pathway. I grabbed the Princeton LED flashlight and went to the fallen tree. I snagged an arm full of twigs and small branches and delivered them to the campsite. I returned for more branches and small cut limbs. Everything I grabbed had to be pre-cut because I had nothing with me to cut or chop limbs or logs. I felt like an ant, hunting for goods; retrieving them to the fire spot and returning for more. I thought about the episode of “King of the Hill” where Bobby became a slave to the queen of his ant farm. He’d sneaked into the kitchen to retrieve mouths full of sugar and return it to his queen. After about 15 minutes of hunting, I made an attempt to fire the leaves and twigs, which were reluctant to join the match disease of burning, but finally took off. Again, with "Castaway" being one of my favorite flicks, I slipped into the Tom Hanks fire dance "fiwaah, we’ve got FIWAAH!" as the leaves lost control to the flames. I did not care if I looked like a fool to the insects, crickets, and frogs. Before I knew it, I had a nice little fire. "Wouldn't you know", I said to myself. "Wouldn't you know, the only time that I did not buy any wood or bring any type of starter, my fire would burn nicely with little effort". I perched on the stool for a while and allowed the flames to mesmerize me.
Looking back, this is where the fun and laughter begins. I realized that I could not just watch the fire without a small snack so I grabbed the beef jerky out of the GranTour bag and returned to my throne in front of the fire. A few pieces into the bag, the threat began to rise in my mind. I looked at a piece of jerky and thought, “What have I done now? What were you thinking by opening this bag?!” I thought about how there was no one else in the area, and if there were bears in the area, they’d only show at my site since I was all alone in the area. “Beef, you know they will smell this, if any are around”, I said frustratingly to myself. Were there bears in the area? “No, no bears in the area anymore. Maybe one day there was”, I thought. I was fighting for control of my mind and thoughts as the tug of war began.
Long Lake…the decal… the decal that I had seen in the past, mother bear following behind her cub. “And Long lake is only a few miles away”, I said aloud. I began losing serious ground to the tug of war. I am normally not concerned of such but when I usually go camping, I stow the food in my vehicle. And I was not concerned of my health, I just did not want to deal with a bear over some lousy beef jerky. My thoughts recalled some recent events, whether I wanted them or not. I thought about my trip to Campmor a few days ago. I was in the lantern/towel isle where could here two guys talking in the isle next to me. One said to the other, “A lady was looking for some bear spray repellent! I showed it to her and included my advice that you can’t outrun a bear. You could see the concern on her face. It was pretty funny.” And the other voice added, “That’s funny. She’ll probably use the can up in no time, spraying everything in sight”. They chuckled and I have to admit, so did I as I thought about how shallow the lady must be for worrying about a dumb bear. Then I remembered seeing the food container in the Aerostich catalog that is airtight and is designed to be hung by a tree to keep the bear and other animals from getting into the food. “Or how about the camping list that you did not follow Rob?” I asked myself, waiting for a reply. The motorcycle camping list that I used (located here http://users.pullman.com/viking/CampingList.htm) for preparation included a large Buck knife and I clearly remember thinking that I would not need a larger knife than the pocketknife. “How handy would the knife that Grandpa made me be right now”. Grandpa made me a knife with a 7” blade when I turned 13 years old. My brain now has me in a full hand-to-paw battle with the bear, as if we’d fight till one of us meets death. I rigged the lantern to hang from a tree and I used some of the balancing experience to balance the bag of jerky atop the lantern. “If a bear wants it, he can have it”, I thought as I realized I lost the tug of war battle with my mind. I threw most of the gear in the tent and joined it inside with a zip of the door. I unzipped the openings to allow ventilation and tried going to sleep. I had never camped ‘right on’ a lake before, so I quickly learned why a bullfrog is named such (if you do not know, it sounds like a bull). Many bull frogs sound like many bulls! The crickets would begin to quiet as I would almost fall asleep then, one stinking cricket would start the whole pack up again. Needless to say, I slept all night with one eye open, waking every half hour or so…

Adirondack Trip 2005 - Day 1 - Leg 3 - Lake Placid

With camp set by 2:30p, I knew that I needed to get moving to get to Lake Placid in order to meet Brian and Danielle for dinner by 4:00p-5:00p. I strapped all the bags closed and fired the ACE up. I rode the clutch more than I desired in order to escape the roots and loose soil back up the path. Her rear tire left her mark on the trail by spinning and raising fresh soil from the earth.

I swung back by the camp guard shack to let Chris know that I stayed with site 204, used the rest room and head out for Lake Placid at 2:44p. As I was carving down US28 headed east, I passed 2 other motorcyclists headed in the opposite direction. The leader gave me the gesture to slow down. I did slow with the thought “I cannot see a police officer out here since there are so few cars and we can only go so fasss…ut oh!!” as two deer grazed on the left hand side of the road. I passed Blue Mountain lake where I stopped to take a picture on the way to the camp. I stayed on 28 and it turned to 28N.

This country went in my internal memory databank as one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been. I finally learned what this decal meant as I rode into the town Long Lake. I have seen it a number of times on vehicles have never chased down what it defined. It was of a mother bear following her cub and at the bottom in a san serif font prints “Long Lake”. Now I know, it stood for a nice quaint, quiet town next to Long Lake in the Adirondacks. "These areas must have been known for bears one day!"

Marge told me to make a left onto 30 in Long Lake. I did. 30 was twisty enough but had some straight sections. I noticed a number of caution signs on the side of the road with a silhouette of a snowmobile and rider. It must be a fun place in the winter also.

I continued on and hit Altamont Town, which made me think of Florida, where I use to live. Spelled differently but I imagined that it is pronounced the same. Altamont was on the edge of Tupper Lake, a huge lake for the area. Marge told me to make a right onto Hwy 3, so again I followed her direction. I took 3 for 20 miles before it smacked into Hwy 86 in Saranac. I leaned right onto 86, which lead me directly to Lake Placid. I passed the skiing and bobsledding park on the way. Marge reported that that we’d finish this short 75 mile ride at the hotel around 4:20p. “Arrgghh! I told Brian I’d be there at 4:00p”.

There’s something about being on time for me. Even though this was a VERY leisure meet, I worked hard to be on time. If I looked at it from an overall perspective, being off 20 minutes for the trip thus far was not too bad but that did not matter, late was late. I’ve got this anal-retentive issue about being late no matter where I go. And if I am late, I allow it to disrupt my mentality at the event, whatever it may be. It did not regarding this meet (probably because I had never met Brian in person) but I did find myself frustrated for running a bit late. And although I would meet with Brian and Danielle 50 more times over, being 20 minutes late on every one of them, I still would meet again. But the meet reminded me that I needed to not ride with others or meet with others on trips. Until this point, I was pretty easy and relaxed. I need to learn to let even very personal meetings be late sometimes. It’s just something I put myself through. I felt very rushed in trying to be there at the time that I claimed.

I went to Brian and Danielle’s hotel and found that they were in the center of town. I rode only a few minutes away to meet them.

Have you ever met anyone that until the time of the meet, you had only spoken with the person over the phone? Isn’t it interesting how you establish an image of the person and they look TOTALLY different when you actually meet them? It ends up being so confusing for me because after I see what they look like, I constantly battle with myself regarding the ‘real’ image of the person as I speak to them. Fortunately, this meeting event, I had a very good idea of what Brian looked like because I had seen a picture awhile back. Brian works for Insight, a technology resource. I have been using Brian and Insight for about 4 years now (because of Brian’s thoroughness and competitiveness) almost entirely. If you are looking for anything regarding technology, give him a call. 800-467-4448x2282. He’ll take care of you. Brian and his fiancé Danielle drove down to Lake Placid from Montreal for a short break since I was going to be in the area. It gave us a good excuse to hook up and do some food.

We hopped in their Canadian Honda, I buckled the Canadian seatbelt, and could not help but to notice the Canadian Phil Collins CD. We went had had a nice dinner, though I had to force Brian to try piece of sushi by threatening him that I would start doing business with the goof balls over at CDW. I ate light because I knew that I had almost another 2 hours of riding to get back to camp. I did not want to become tired on the way. I had to be rude and get going. We went back for their hotel and had a quick cup of coffee before I took off. I was surprised with a few ink pens as gifts.

Brian sitting on the ACE with Danielle at his side...

Adirondack Trip 2005 - Day 1 - Setting Camp

There were two camp grounds men working the grounds next to the entrance road. One of them waved to me and the other grounds man kept looking at the ground as he continued to work. I waved back. I approached the common style check-in guard shack that sat in the middle of the road. As I stopped, I noticed a man about 500 feet ahead waving me on. He had a water hose in his hand and appeared to be washing a motorcycle. I rode to him and stopped, also killing the engine. I still had both silicon ear plugs in so I could not hear him very well as he spoke.
“Good-ay”, he welcomed me.
“Hello”, I replied. “Rob”, as I put my hand out to shake his.
“Hello, Name's Chris."
“What is that? A Harley?”, Chris questioned as he looke the ACE over.
“No, a Honda Shadow, American Classic Edition”.
“Oh, I thought it was a Harley”.

If you look at my pictures of the ACE, you will notice that some of them have the chrome Honda Shadow emblem cleaned from the tank. I did that because I like the graphics on the tank and the emblem took from the graphics. With no emblem, the make is questionable. You would really have to know that it is a Honda Shadow ACE (obviously the ACE stands for American Classic Edition).

“No, a Honda. What do you have there, a Gold Wing?” I could not see it real well.
“Yea, I just got it. Are you looking for a campground?”
As I still could not hear him very well, I replied, “Yea, let me pull it over just ahead and we’ll do business”.
I looked over his Goldwing. I love the old Goldwings. I am not sure what it is about them. Maybe it makes me think back of my Grandpa Paschal's motorcycles that he would allow me to ride sometimes. In that era, the color brown was so in, therefore so many of the old Goldwings are of the same color. Here's a snapshot of my grandfather and his CB750 in the mid to late 70's to give you the idea.

Chris' Goldwing was one year shy of my favorite generation, it was a 1982, and brown of course. It had the Windjammer fairing on it and he reported that it only had 23k miles on it.
“No kidding!!!”, I sounded my surprise. “That’s amazing!”
I gave him a little Goldwing history from what I could recall.
“They came out in 77 or 78, I don’t remember exactly but Honda promised the moarket a factory fairing/windshield. They kept promising every year until it finally came out in 83 as they were noticing that they were losing some of the market. That’s why you have a Windjammer on here. The original owner obviously did not buy Honda’s story and added the after market fairing instead of waiting. In 83 they increase the size of the engine to a 1200cc. and finally deleivered on the promise of the faairing.

"Man, I’d like to have an old Goldwing!” He probably thought I was nuts after riding in on a 2002 motorcycle, maybe even a trade since I spoke so highly of the old tourer. As I kept looking over the Goldwing “Whaow!! Dude! Your rear tire is worn! You better get that replaced!”. I had NEVER seen a tire so worn out. It was completely slick with no tread at all except near the sides of the tire.
“Yea, I need to”.
“You should take it over the Americade and get a new one. You can probably get a good deal on one”, as I tried to offer some help.
“What’s the Americade?”
“It’s the largest touring expo in the country and it starts tomorrow”.
“Oh, the Thunder in the Mountains is going on at Old Forge this weekend.”
“Never heard of it but I can assure you, you will not be disappointed with the Americade”.
“Yea, I just bought the Goldwing on Ebay. It was in Utica”.
“No joke! I bet I saw your Goldwing on Ebay as I look every few days for an old Goldwing or ST1100. I recall seeing one in Utica.”
“What’s a ST1100”, he asked inquisitively.
“It’s a Honda sports/touring bike. It cuts the wind like a knife. It’s one of my dream bikes. I’d rather own 3-4 older used bikes at 4k-5k a piece than one at 30k, such as a Harley. No bike is worth that much to me, let alone a vehicle. You should check them out on Ebay… nice.”

I shared with him my ride so far and told hi that I was from Orange county New York. He, of course, related it to Orange County Choppers”.

Chris had 3 sites taken out of 208. I have never heard of such a thing. 3 SITES taken!!!??? I thought "Where is everyone?". If you want to see a map of the grounds, here... http://www.reserveamerica.com/jsp/commonpage.jsp?goto=/usa/ny/golb/newindex.html

I asked Chris which sites are the highest in demand and he recommend the sites along the road. They were all open.
“Chris, just pick the one that you think is the best for me and I’ll take it”. He chose site 204. As he was signing me in, he type in the computer that I was from Utica.
“No, not Utica, Campbell Hall.” I don’t know what Chris’ fascination was with Utica. He asked me earlier if I had ridden through Utica. Everything was UTICA. It made me think back about the movie Road Trip that Tom Green acted in.
“Site 204 is about a quarter of a mile west on 28. You can’t miss it. You’ll see the signs on the right. If you see another site that you prefer, take it and let me know what the number is.”
“Sounds good. Thanks Chris.” We shook hands one last time before I left. I was more than just another customer, I had the same hobby and dream as him; balancing down the road on two wheels.

I made the right onto 28 and watched for site 204. I missed it and had to turn around. The signs were too small for me to catch clearly the first time and it displayed “Site 203-205”, so my brain obviously was not working too well. I turned around and hit the dirt pathway for sites 203-205.
“He’s kidding…” I actually said to myself. “He expects me to ride down this path?” There were large rocks and tree roots all over the path, not to mention that the dirt was VERY loose. “Well girl, lets see what you’ve got.” My mountain bike at home is a Giant AC, so I thought I’d see how this “AC”E would do on the dirt. We had to make a right on a path to go directly to 204. “This is a joke! I though the main path was bad! This is unbelievable!” The path to 204 was steep with even more roots and rocks. “I’m going to power walk you down girl” (power walking, if you don’t know, is when you let the motorcycle move or accelerate with your feet near the ground, ready for rebalance assistance.)
I dropped the kickstand once I landed at the site and it went right down into the soil. I had to break out with the kickstand pad. She then stood upright, ready for a break. It was 1:47p and the site is located at coordinates N43.80915 W74.60095. Here is a few snapshots of my temporary home after I set the Eureka Backcountry tent.

The path in the background is the path that we had to take to the site. The picture DOES NOT serve the purpose. Far to mild here.

I set the majority of the camp in less than 30 minutes. I set on the camp stool for about 5 minutes, gazing out at the water. "Man, I could sit and gaze out here all day. I need an extra day just to do nothing". This was the view.

It was 2:35p and I knew that I had to get back on the road to be in Lake Placid by 4:00p to meet Brian and Danielle.

Adirondack Trip 2005 - Day 1 - Leg 2 - Golden Beach Campgrounds

I rode north on US9 from A&W through the town of Lake George. Lake George is the hot spot for the annual Americade motorcycle expo, which ironically starts the day after my ride through it. I like the meet because it is mostly a touring bike expo and not the traditional nose-up-in-the-air Harley meet. When I went 2 years ago, there were far more import touring bikes than for example, Biketoberfest on Daytona, FL (that’s the only other one I have been to and can really compare to).
US9 Y’s off to US28 right after Warrensburg. Marge (the name for the Garmin Quest GPS) told me to jump onto 28, so I followed her directions. 28 began to snake as I could see some relatively large mountains ahead. I made a pitstop in Holcombville for fuel. I really did not need a refill so soon, I had probably 30-40 more miles left in the tank but I was not sure what the Adirondack State Park offered for fuel and had I not topped the blue tank off, I would have worried on the ride instead of enjoying it. On this stop I was not so interested in meeting others; as I was filling the tank, two guys were shooting to bull about 30 feet away from the tank. A truck pulled up and a guy jumped out.
“Hey Steve”, said the guy that just showed up as he was obviously in a hurry, the truck had not completed it’s stop.
“Jim!”
“Hey Jim. Tell your dad to start buying my fuel again!”, Steve exclaimed.
“Steve, we’ve already talked to you about this”
“Yea, well that’s bullshit!”
OK Rob, time to fire her up and move on. And that I did.

I passed many other motorcycles that were headed for the Lake George. We did the common courteous ‘wave’ to each other. If you ever (or ever have) notice two passing motorcyclists wave to each other as they pass one another, it is not because they are neighbors, it’s because they both have something in common; the desire to balance on two wheels down the road. {Sarcasm ahead} You cannot just frantically start waving like an idiot though… it has to be a cool, Fonzy like wave (and I’m really not a Marshall Productions fan, it’s just what came to mind!). Some people give the old peace sign wave and to be cool. Now the wave has to be down low, almost just extending your arm downward. Now, it’s not really a wave per say, just an acknowledgment of your motorcycle brotherhood. I like to give the “hang loose” sign, which I personally rarely see. Some people will only wave to you if you ride their motorcycle manufacturer choice, ie. Harley Davidson, but not I. I don’t care if you are riding a Harley, crotch rocket, bicycle, big wheel or a skateboard. I am on my motorcycle and that makes me feel good, so therefore… I wave. This trip, I even waved to an older lady as she was struggling to stand up. You could tell that she was planting some flowers in her flower bed as she had dirt all over herself and one of those small hand held shovels for planting. Had I been a florist, she may have waved back. Instead, she just looked at me as if she was trying to figure out who I was. Hey, I have been blessed! I am an American, have a job, have a family that loves me, I have good health, and I was riding for the whole weekend and exploring a different part of the state in which I have never been!


The road curved as it follows a branch of the Hudson River. At this point, I really noticed the peace of not having tunes in my ears but my left ear is still feeling irritated. I began learning how to lean back on the GranTour bag as I weaved around the turns. I enjoyed this for a number of miles. I noticed a sign for the Durant NY State Campgrounds to on my left seconds before I passed it. That was one of the campgrounds I had considered staying if the one’s of my choice were full. I marked that in my memory bank.
I came to a T in the road at 28N and Marge said to make a left, so I followed her guidance. I came up on a lake to my right. Marge displayed that it was the Blue Mountain Lake. Here’s a snapshot.

Marge said that I was only minutes away from the Golden Beach campground (http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/do/camping/campgrounds/golden.html) so I was quite excited to get there and set camp. I still needed to head to Lake Placid to meet with my friend/colleague Brian McGovern and his fiancé Danielle so I had to keep moving. I leaned into the campground at 1:17p, 2 hours and 65 miles from the A&W root beer drive in. That time shows how much longer you are in the saddle on curvy roads compared to the highway.

Adirondack Trip 2005 - Day 1 - Leg 1 - Lake George

I left the house at about 7:45a and realized before I left that I had an almost empty tank. Well that works… I was hungry. So heading to the gas station in Goshen, I swung into the diner and had a ham and swiss omelet. I charged up with some coffee and downed the omelet. I went next door to the Mobil and filled up and prepped for the road. I officially left at 8:40am.
I headed west on the 17 that I know so well and hit 84 east to the NYS Thruway.
Heading north on the Thruway (87), Blue Sapphire snuck through the turbulence of the other vehicles, especially the trucks.
“Wow”, I thought, “It’s been along time since I’ve really been on this motorcycle!” I was tuned in on the Ipod, moving up the Thruway (the New York Thruway is really nothing more than a toll road that has exits only every 20-40 miles or so. When you hit traffic, you are stuck!). Driving the TrailBlazer, I usually run about 80-85 but I began out slow, about 65 to get a re-establish the highway feel. Over about 20 miles, I began to increase the speed and found myself cruising at 80mph. She winds up a little at that speed but she has no problem holding it. I remember thinking that with everything that has been going on in my life and the load from class, I felt like a dry sponge to water, soaking up every mile of the road.

Cruising down the center lane (David Hough, the motorcycle skills writer, feels strongly that the center lane is the safest lane to cruise on the highway in), I escaped a bogey at 2:00... “Is she switching to my lane? Does she not see me? I am right here!!!!” Obviously not! I quickly switch to the passing lane to avoid interaction with the cager.

Because the exits are so scarce on the NYS Thruway, I filled up at the New Baltimore rest stop. I later found myself behind a flatbed truck hauling hay at 60mph, a disaster waiting to happen. I quickly passed the truck to avoid eating grass.

As I passed Saratoga Springs I thought about my exit not being too far off in the distance, exit 23, US9. “Wait!!! I need a root beer at the A&W in Lake George!!!” I jumped off exit 21 to A&W. As I approached the A&W Drive in, there was a vehicle audio competition at the convention center. I noticed because of their marketing ploy; lightly (and not in contrast) dress young ladies out near the street. It almost worked but the last thing I needed was to listen to some bass hip-hop escaping out of cars. Besides, my ears were killing me due to the earphones. They did not work too well, causing irritation primarily my left ear. I arrived at A&W at 11:15am, 2:35 hours later and 165 miles later @ an average of 60mph. Since the A&W was a drive in, I parked the ACE a little off and walked to the window.
“Can I get a root beer?”
“Yes, but you need to go to the take out window”
“Oh, sorry. Thanks!”
I’m a little out of sorts from being on the road I suppose. I went to the take out window. The same girl as from the other window was waiting.
“Can I get a medium root beer?”
“Sure.”
I saw her grab the Dixie cup, load it with ice and begin filling the cup.
"Excuse me, you guys don't use the frozen mugs anymore?"
"Yes, but you need to sit at one of the tables"
"Well, I'll head there now"
The same girl was my waitress.
She dilivered an awesome frozen mugged root beer. yummmmy. If you are ever in the Lake George area, you must swing by. The mugs use to look different, they were hexagon shaped at the bottom.

Do you remember the A&W root beer drive ins? I was introduced to them as a young boy. I remember my uncle Gehrig taking Shannon (my brother, not sister!) and I to the A&W in Muncie, Indiana during our summer visit. Ironically, Gehrig also introduced me to the chevy El Camino that I so adore today. The drive in would freeze the mugs before pouring the root beer in. I remember they actually had a ‘kids size’. I noticed this drive in a number of years ago when I wwas up there. Once we took Robby (my son) there for lunch so that he too could have a similar experience. He ate such a large soft ice cream cone that he ALMOST threw it up, over filling himself. I later added some chicken tenders, grabbed another root beer and wrapped up.
I grabbed another sight of the 'friendly looking' girls in front of the convention center, bit down on my palm the way Squiggy (from the 70's show Laverne and Shirley) use to, threw silicone earplugs in my ears (due to the earphone irritation), and headed out.

Adirondack 2005 - Track Map

The blue line (actually very close dots) is the trip. This is actually an 'electronic bread crumb trail' that the Quest saves as it is on and mobile. It's the same as the old story of dropping a stone or 'bread crumb' every few seconds behind you in case you get lost. This can be used to recover from being lost but I use it primarily as a logging feature for where I have been. Every dot contains information such as my speed, latitudinal/longitudinal location, direction, elevation, date, and time. I can use a software, GPS map explorer, to actually repdrive the trip if I wish. The data can be taken to many different programs to be manipulated. Kinda cool...

Some of you Garmin owners may wonder how I added the trip to a different map than Mapsource. I use a utility called GPS Map Explorer (found at http://home.tiscali.no/gpsii/). It will directly open the Garmin GDB file. Then I use Maps on Us (http://www.mapsonus.com) to zoom into the area that I so desire and save the map to a GIF file. Throw it into GPS Map Explorer and calibrate the two, the map and the Garmin track data. Pretty nice. If you want to view your tracks on a topo, color or BW satellite imagery, you might want to check out USAPhotoMaps (found at http://www.jdmcox.com/). It too is a very nice utility. I do not use it very often because my tracks are usually to widespread.

Adirondack Trip 2005 - Packing Order

Being tired Friday evening, 6/3/05 (night prior to the trip), I failed to include information such as packing. I have always enjoyed packing for some reason. Maybe the excitement of the trip and seeing if you can fit 10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag, I don't know. But when I get the 10 pounds in the bag, I'm pretty pleased. I remember as a child, watching my grandpa Paschal and my father, both, being pack nuts too. It was like "OOH! I see a small area (about 2"x4") that is being wasted. Let's see, can that small bag (4"x8" in size) fit in there? grr-huh-mm.... there. Perfect!"
Let me just review the packing order, primarily for myself for future packing. I have been on other pages and as petty as it sounds, I have wondered what they had packed and where. So this is not as informative to you as it is to me. It also helps me to almost use it as a checklist...

*Handlebar Bag*

The handlebar bag served as the 12V power switch/outlet. The Radio Shack 3 cigarette lighter plug sits in the bag with the Blackberry (phone/email), Ipod (tunes), and Garmin Quest (GPS) chargers all stay plugged. Additiaonlly, this bag holds the kickstand plate (for use when you want to set the bike up in soft dirt to keep the stand from sinking into the earth), and the Radio Shack Pro-83 handheld scanner (used for mostly weather updates and sometimes entertainment. ie, CB, police, family radios, air traffic. you get the idea). Also included is some helmet visor cleaner.

*Tank Bag*

In the Cortech tank bag, I keep all of my valuables. There is a nylon strap that I wrap around the handlebar in the case that wind happens or I knock the bag over myself. When I hit a pit stop and need to leave the ACE for a few, I unclip the Garmin and zip it into the bag, unclip the bag from the strap and grab it by the handle and allow it to be my company. In the outside map window, I use it to hold the Ipod. It is really too small for a map. In the future, I may print directions out and slip them in the window so I do not have to change the mode of the GPS to view them. Within is my Canon Powershot S60, wallet (holding only $40. I use a wire band nech pouch for the credit cards and big bills), map, batteries, gum, audo cables and controls, and the famous duct tape.

*Left Saddlebag

The left, my favorite saddlebag and I don't know why. Maybe because I usually put the things in it that I need to retrieve somewhat quickly without having to walk around to the right saddlebag. Since the forcast for rain looked slim, I put all of the rain gear in this bag instead of the easy access GranTour bag (later) because this bag would soon have a tent bungee'd to it. In the bag are my leather chaps (no comments on the sexiness please), Frogg Togg rain gear (jacket and pants), rain cover for the GranTour and Cortech tank bag, and dehydrated food. Atop the left saddlebag sits an OR water resistant bag that holds the Backcountry tent, ground cloth, and stool.

*Right Saddlebag

The right saddlebag became my 'maintenance bag'. In it is my spare headlight bulb, 1.5 litre if water, lumbar support for the Grantour bag, bungee cords, bungee net, and tools. Atop the right saddlebag sits the OR water resistant bag with the sleeping bag, therma rest, and pillow within. There was room to spare.

*Kuryakyn Gran Tour Bag

In the main compartment I stowed a spare pair of blue jeans, bicycling shorts, bicycling warm pants, long sleeve T, short sleeve T, socks, liner for Fisrt Gear jacket, coffee, Jetboil, Anti Monkey Butt powder, a Top Ramen, 1.5 liter of water, and the lantern in the center. On the inside-top is the ultra light towel, and personal hygiene bag.

In the outside top section I stored items that I wanted to gain access to very easily. Within it is a few Cliff bars, bag of jerky, clear helmet visor, and my motorcycling baseball cap. The visor fit perfectly. On the top is the night light for reading, pocket knife, and flash light.

In the left/upper zipper comparrtment sits my sunglasses, glasses, map, and GPS bag.

In the right/upper compartment is the first aid kit, an emergency roll of toilet paper, and aspirin.

That's it for the packing. On to the less boring stuff...

**FYI Intermission**

FYI Message
This trip blog is primarily for myself to revisit the trips that I have on the motorcycle. Maybe I'll even read them in the winter when riding is scarce! Also, I will include information about packing, foods, and etcetera for myself. Instead of 'wondering' what I did the last time when I prepped, I can review the blog. I will try to break the subjects up so if someone wants to read about the trip, they can easily jump to the next area that they wish to read. And you think I’m crazy for doing this or that I must be bored, I don’t care. Go somewhere else. ;) There is plenty more to read elsewhere on the internet.

Adirondack Trip 2005 - Pre-Trip Thoughts and Planning

Pre-Trip Prep

I've been spending every night this week getting ready for the trip. I've had to make 2 trips to Campmor (fighting from the bag area... okay, so I visited it but I did NOT buy one) this week geting last minute items. I had to do a crash course in the waterproof bag department (1 for the sleeping bag and another for clothing... I'd hate to get into a wet sleeping bag). Snagged a first aid kit (I figure it would not hurt to have if for the cruise in July anyway), some tent sealant, dehydrated food, JetBoil coffee press and post stabilizer (to convert the Jetboil over to a standard stove), and etc. This will be the first time I will have ever tried the dehydrated foods. I'll add my review when I return. Although a friend/associate from Insight , Brian, might show at Lake Placid on Saturday night with his fiance. If it goes that way, I'll have a good excuse from having to eat the stuff; we'll do dinner instead... real food. I'll probably modify the route if Brian shows (he lives in Montreal and is a BIG Canadian's fan!).

I figured a nice way to strap the bag down onto the rear seat, being able to quickly remove it. I think the bag is going to be relaxing. According to what I have packed, the saddle bags are not going to be crammed. This will help determine how much space I will need for the VA trip to see Roy. I'd like to get a camera mount for the RAM (the RAM mount is the only way to fly http://ram-mount.com) so that when Roy and I drive Skyline Drive, I can set the camcorder up and make a movie of the ride. Might be fun. So everything is packed in a pile and ready to be loaded on the ACE. I'll load'r down tonight after work but after I make a short trip on her so that I can add some lube to the chain with it warm.

The only thing so far that has not gone as planned is in the tunes department. The speakers I bought for the helmet did not fit as well as expected. I made some using the KOSS earphones but converting some nice gel earplugs to fit them. I have not tried them yet, I will tonight. If they don't fit well then I am going san tunes. It might not be the worse thing anyway because I need to do some thinking on this trip and not be so entertained. There are a few headphones that I looked into last night, mostly from http://shop.store.yahoo.com/earplugstore/index.html They have 2 that I am interested in, the Sensorcom (which is much more cost efficient) and the Challenger isolation earphones. The Challenger earphones are actually made of an impression of your own ear that you send to them. I only question how well these 2 actually sound. The Challengers are $200 (ouch!). I am going to call them to find out if I can 'try' the Sensorcom's. I fitted the sheepskin seat cover on the saddle... plush baby. I need to do some touch up on it by cutting the draw cords and stuff but I think it too will make a big difference.

I plan on leaving around 9:00am and reaching the campgraound by 5:00pm. I don't have a planned campground. I called this week and they want a 2 night reservation. There are 4 in the area (see map below) so hopefully one of them can accomidate a walk in. It should take roughly 6 hours without stopping too much but I would like to check out Lake Placid a little and maybe take some pics. The NYS Thruway (87) is suppose to get pretty nice towards the north. This will be my first trip that I log so that will be interesting as well. I'm concerned that I will not recall as much as I wish. I plan this trip will be just over 700 miles round trip.

Champaigne bottle slaps the fender at 9:00am. Catch you tomorrow...

Aerostich Sheepskin Seat Cover

Adirondack Mountains Trip on 6/7-6/8, 2005

The yellow line is the planned route. It covers about of 75% of NY's North and South distance. 700+ mile loop. The purple line is my planned Saddle Sore 1000 trip (1000 miles in less than 24 hours). I hope to take it next weekend, leave Friday at midnight and return home Saturday evening. It is to Galion, Ohio and back (I went for the most boring route with the most alternate highways). Hope weather permits.